IslamicFinance.de

Prospects Indonesia will get a credit-rating upgrade from Moody’s Investors Services are pulling down yields on government Islamic notes from a two-month high and improving the outlook for a second global sukuk.
Moody’s cited “economic resilience” in putting the country’s rating. The government postponed an offering of Islamic bonds originally planned for July until the first half of 2011.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) this morning listed its trust certificate issuance programme or sukuk programme on Bursa Malaysia.
The conferment is given to foreigncurrency denominated issuances with a focus to provide greater visibility to the Malaysian market in raising funds by local and foreign corporations.

After a meeting of The Board of Directors ("the Board") of The Investment Dar on the Nov 25, 2010, the Company issues the following update on its financial restructuring.
The letter gave notice of the CC's resignation effective at the close of business Nov 28, 2010 to immediately begin negotiations on an alternative 'Debt for Equity' proposal and to issue invitations to shareholders to attend an OGM/EGM to discuss a restructuring plan based on this principle.

Arab banks are expected to gain nearly $300 billion in assets at the end of 2010 in order to surpass the region's gross domestic product. This should help them expand their role in the domestic economy.
Adnan Yousuf, Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), has the strong oppinion that deposits with the banks as well as their capital are also projected to sharply grow by the end of this year as banks pull out of the clutches of the 2008 global fiscal distress.

National Commercial Bank are among five borrowers in the Persian Gulf that may offer Islamic bonds next year after sales dropped 40 percent in 2010.
There is a good opportunity to take advantage of the liquidity level among Islamic investors, which has remained high due to the shortage of sukuk sales this year.
Global sales of sukuk dropped 31 percent this year because of the concern about defaults prompted investors to demand higher returns from property-related issuers.

Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, secretary-general of the Islamic Financial Services Board, has said the board will revise its rules next year to enhance Shari'ah-compliant banks' capital in line with Basel III reforms.
The purpose is "not to put the Islamic financial services industry at a disadvantage and to provide them with a level playing field" . The IFSB would seek its council's approval in December to begin work next year on amending the regulations

Rasmala Investment Bank from Dubai appointed two new co-CEOs and has accepted the resignation of its CEO Tamer Bazzari.
The Board also appointed Anwar AbuSbaitan and David Woods as Co-CEOs.
A rationalisation plan was approved in order to bring costs down by 25 per cent and prepare Rasmala for a strong 2011.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Deadline: 20 December 2010

The annual convening of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists is widely recognized as the premier forum on Muslim Philanthropy worldwide. The event welcomes philanthropists, social investors, grant-makers, government and business leaders, visionaries, social entrepreneurs and civil society executives to a solicitation-free collaborative environment.

The 4th World Congress will lead a dialogue around the potential roadmap for Muslim Philanthropy in the next decade. This discussion will be enriched by the collective wisdom and experience of leading philanthropists and intellectuals from around the world.

While high-level plenary and panel discussions take place on day-1, interactive roundtables will be organized on day-2 around four major themes: global hunger, gender equality, social entrepreneurship, and science, technology & innovation (STI). For social investors, the conference will also showcase innovative philanthropic models selected by jury.

Proposals are invited in the following categories:

• Podium Presentations (12 minutes) regarding the conference theme

The International Investment Bank ( IIB ) of Bahrain plans to implement a large-scale residential project in Jeddah at a total cost of up to $1 billion.
Work at the project is planed to start in early 2011 and it will be executed in stages.
The Islamic Development Bank will help IIB to make the plan work. The project will include 2,000 residential units for low-income people, as well as schools, mosques, and shops.

Malaysia's government-owned Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra launched a 317-billion-dollar investment trust in order to encourage its majority Muslim Malays to invest more in property.
The sharia-compliant Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) would allow Muslim Malays and indigenous groups to increase their stake in real estate assets.

A senior Islamic scholar in Saudi Arabia accuses the Kingdom’s central bank of stifling Islamic banking services.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Manee, a member of the Supreme Islamic Scholars Authority, said most of the Islamic banking services in the world had originated from Saudi Arabia but added they were all individual initiatives.

The National Commercial Bank Chief Executive Officer Abdulkareem Abu Alnasr has been named Islamic Banker of the Year 2010 at the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC).
Alnasr received the award from the governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain in recognition of NCB's strong leadership and commitment to Islamic Banking.

Analysts fear it might have to raise new debt but the company is confident that it can generate sufficient cash to pay off the existing debt and does not rule out having to make some asset sales.
Up to $100 billion in corporate debt needs to be refinanced in the Gulf Arab region in 2011, making it harder to refinance debt maturing afterward.

Islamic bonds slumped in November, snapping a five-month rally.
Average yields on sukuk climbed 19 basis points, or 0.19 percentage point, in November to 5.04 percent, the highest level in two months.
Scott Lim embraces the oppinion that the sukuk market doesn’t work in isolation.

TVM Capital MENA is focusing on health care and life sciences in the MENA region.
TVM Capital MENA announced its investment in Bourn Hall International. Bourn Hall, which is based in the UK, was the world's first In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinic.
The deal by TVM Capital MENA brings the IVF concept to the GCC and launches Bourn Hall's first international expansion. Bourn Hall International will manage a network of branded IVF facilities in the Middle East that will operate at the same quality level and adopt the same procedures as in the UK, with the first clinic set to open in 2011.

Nakheel is returning to health and plans to issue a sukuk (Islamic bond) to its trade creditors in the first quarter of 2011.
However, there are some unresolved challenges.
In a reminder that emirate's debt troubles are far from over, financial services firm Dubai Group recently missed two payments on separate loans.

The transaction of Coxlease School valued at Pounds 17.5m ($28m). Tadhamon Capital advised on the transaction and acted as an arranger of the financing.

Qatar's investment bank, QInvest, has launched a Sharia'a Compliant Enhanced Yield Note that has been met with great enthusiasm by investors, with the bank raising significantly more than expected.
The bank is being led by Chairman H.E. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jabr Al Thani, and Chief Executive Officer, Shahzad Shahbaz.
QInvest has created a world class investment banking capability operating under Sharia'a compliant structures.
QInvest's business lines include investment banking, investment management, brokerage and wealth management.

The cross-regional Islamic investors increasingly embrace the product, so more Sharia-compliant real estate investment trusts (REITs) will come to market in Asia in early 2011.
Singapore's first Sharia-compliant REIT, Sabana REIT, listed on Friday, has drawn a mixture of both conventional and Islamic investors, a quarter of them from the Middle East.

Sabana Shariah Compliant REIT , which owns industrial properties, fell as much as 3.4 percent on Monday, its second day of trading.
Besides being affected by overall weaker market sentiment, investor interest also switched to another bigger IPO.
Shares of Sabana's sponsor, Freight Links Express , which is injecting some properties into Sabana, dropped 5.9 percent to S$0.08.